Forgive and Forget?
by GriffinStar
Summary: Set several months after Louisa accepted Martin's proposal, they are happily engaged but have not yet set a date for their wedding.Then Louisa's mother makes an appearance...
1. Chapter 1

_Set a couple of months after Louisa accepted Martin's proposal. They haven't set a date for getting married yet, they are just getting to know each other as an engaged couple, with no baby on the way._

**Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.**

**Forgive and Forget?**

**Chapter 1**

Life was pretty good, in fact it was pretty much perfect, Martin thought to himself. He had no regrets whatsoever in having pushed himself to the limit in proposing to Louisa. He'd felt so vulnerable, waiting for her answer, hardly daring to hope that she would agree to be his wife. But she had. And now things were pretty damn good between them. He looked forward to seeing her every evening that they could, and really missed her on the occasions that they couldn't meet up, which was usually because of work commitments. His weekends had been transformed - instead of spending them by himself, studying and researching medical matters, he now spent at least part of the time with her. They went for walks, cooked meals together or went out to interesting places they had read about and had a meal there. It was bliss as far as he was concerned - because of Louisa.

His wonderful, darling Louisa. He looked at her now, lying next to him in bed, and couldn't imagine life without her. As usual, just being in close proximity to her meant that he felt the stirrings of desire. She brought out a side to his nature that he hadn't dared to let loose before. Although they'd both been a little shy and inhibited to start with, she had encouraged him to explore his sexuality with her, and Martin discovered to his surprise that he was rather good in bed. After all the men who had consulted him regarding 'erectile dysfunction' over the years, he'd assumed that it was a very common problem, and that he might struggle too – he was no longer a teenager after all. But he never had any problems, in fact most of the time he only had to look at Louisa to become aroused. She was rather flattered by this, and so now she was confident enough to be quite cheeky and suggestive with him, leading to some very 'interesting' scenarios that he would never have dreamt possible just a few months before. It really was no wonder that he was very content with how things were, and he certainly had no desire to go back to his previous solitary and lonely existence.

He'd mentioned several times to Louisa about setting a date for their wedding because he really wanted her to be his wife, to make things permanent and official between them, but she told him to relax and that there was no rush at the moment. She wisely felt that they should spend some time getting to know each other better before setting the date, but she had suggested that maybe they would tie the knot next summer, which Martin was fine with.

The village had soon got used to the fact that they were a couple, and that they stayed over at each other's houses. It was old news now, and no one made much comment if Martin was seen coming out of Louisa's cottage in the morning by Dave the postie, or if Louisa was seen in her dressing gown at the Doc's house at the weekend by Bert. It made the Doc seem almost normal, and they rather liked it. He was still as grumpy and brusque as ever when they consulted him, but now they knew that he was actually human – thanks to their Miss Glasson.

So when there was a knock at the door of Louisa's cottage early one morning while Martin was there, he didn't worry too much about opening the door while wearing his pyjamas and dressing gown. Louisa had only just got out of the shower, and had shouted out to him,

"Can you get that, it's probably Dave, I'm expecting a parcel."

Martin opened the door, and was surprised to see a woman standing there, who was maybe just a few years older than him, but was still very beautiful. She looked familiar, although Martin couldn't immediately quite say why.

"Good Morning. Sorry to call round so early," the woman said, smirking as she eyed Martin's dressing gown.

"What do you want? If you require a doctor, I'm afraid you will have to wait until my surgery opens at 9am, unless it's an emergency, of course," Martin told her tersely, now feeling rather uncomfortable. It wouldn't be the first time that a villager had tracked him down, wanting his professional services, interruptions were a very common occurrence for them, unfortunately.

"Ah, so you must be the Doc…..Doc Martin, isn't it?" the woman enquired as she continued to study him closely, much to Martin's discomfort.

"It's Doctor Ellingham actually," Martin stated in his usual abrupt manner. At this point, Louisa came downstairs, having heard a woman's voice rather than the postman at the door.

She stared at the woman.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Louisa demanded to know, her voice cold and hard.

Martin turned to look at her, surprised. He didn't think he had ever heard that tone of voice from her, not even when she was lecturing a class of very badly behaved children.

"Louisa, my dear. How are you?" the woman asked, a slight smile now playing on her lips. She didn't seem surprised or upset at the unwelcoming tone of voice.

"What do you care? You haven't been interested to know for the last however many years," Louisa stated abruptly.

"Would somebody mind filling me in? Clearly you two know each other…" Martin asked, confused.

"You could say that, Martin. This is my mother. The one that walked out when I was a little girl, the one that I don't see from one years' end to the next," Louisa stated, folding her arms and staring at her mother.

"So, what are you doing back here now? Actually, I don't want to know, don't bother to explain. Just sod off back to wherever you came from. Last I heard, it was somewhere in Scotland, you'd got yourself a nice Scottish fella to shack up with. Thrown you out just like all the others before him has he, finally come to his senses?"

The look Louisa gave her mother was glacially cold in its intensity, Martin saw.

"You really haven't changed one bit, have you Louisa? Still the little spitfire, full of spirit," the woman laughed. "Look, I really do need to talk to you, I thought maybe I'd catch you before you went to work, but I can see that now is not a good time, so I'll catch you later, when you're dressed at least. I'm staying at the pub, come and find me after work perhaps," Louisa's mother suggested, still smiling her knowing little smile as she looked at both of them in their dressing gowns, before she turned and slowly walked away.

Louisa slammed the door and stormed into the kitchen, Martin following behind her.

"Always turns up like a bad penny, just when things are finally looking up, she's here to spoil things. Well I'm not going to let it happen this time. I'm not getting sucked in, I'm not going to see her, or meet up with her, she can go to hell," Louisa spat the words out as she banged the kettle down on the worktop, supposedly for making her morning pot of tea.

"OK, OK, calm down," Martin tried to tell her as he watched her getting some cups out, thinking that she was going to break them if she slammed them down too in the same manner.

"Don't tell me to calm down, I'm perfectly calm."

Martin took the cups out of her hands, put them down and then pulled Louisa into his arms and held her tight against his chest to try to soothe her.

"You have no idea what's she's like Martin," Louisa said angrily.

"Then tell me. Help me to understand why she is having this affect on you. I know she left you and your father when you were young, but I don't know much else," Martin said, upset that their perfect little idyll seemed to have been shattered by the arrival of this woman.

"I don't want to waste my breath Martin. Suffice to say that she is trouble, and the sooner she goes, the better. I don't know why she's here, probably because she hasn't got a man in her life at the moment – she has to have a man, goes from one unsuitable relationship to another, that's how she's spent her whole life, my dad was just one man in a very long line of them. Probably scouting round the pub right now for her latest victim to get her claws into. She's very good at sucking them in, using her feminine wiles. Given half the chance she'll probably try them out on you Martin, I'll warn you right now," Louisa shot him a glance at her confession, realising that he must be horrified at her description of his future mother in law.

"Louisa, I think maybe you're overreacting," Martin stated, trying to calm things down, but actually making them worse, as he soon found out.

"Overreacting? Actually I think I'm being pretty restrained, if you knew even a fraction of the things she's done. I thought you'd be on my side, thought you'd understand, especially given your parental problems," Louisa was getting more upset by the minute.

"Of course I'm on your side! Don't take this out on me! I don't know anything about the woman, except maybe that you look a lot like her."As soon as the words left his lips, Martin realised that it probably wasn't the best thing that he could have said. Why did he always manage to do that, he wondered, think just _after_ the words escaped rather than just before?

"Oh great, I look just like that…that…trollop who happens to be my mother by some misfortune of nature. Thanks for that!"

Martin decided it was probably safer if he didn't say anything more for the minute. He watched as Louisa now slammed things round the kitchen as she made her breakfast with a face like thunder, until she gave a big sigh and stopped what she was doing.

"I'm so sorry. None of this is your fault, and you're right, I shouldn't take it out on you," she said, coming over and cuddling up to him.

"That's OK. Just wish I understood why she upsets you so much. But if you say you don't want anything to do with her, then I'll respect your wishes, of course," Martin told her, relieved that he seemed to be off the hook now. He certainly had no desire to get involved with any unwanted relative of Louisa's. He was more than happy with just the two of them, with no other outside interference. He could just about tolerate Joan giving her opinions from time to time, but that was the limit of any familial obligations in his book.

**xXx**

"And what is your problem?" Martin didn't look up as he finished off writing up the notes from the last patient.

"Martin. Sorry we seemed to have got off on the wrong foot the other morning, so I thought I'd come and get to know you a bit, seeing as we're going to be family."

Martin looked up to see Louisa's mother sitting in the chair opposite him, smiling that little smile again. He glanced down at the medical card – it was one of the ones used for temporary patients who were not actually registered with him. The name filled in was Fiona Bennett.

"You can call me Doctor Ellingham, Ms Bennett," Martin informed her pointedly.

"Well I rather thought that I would be calling you Martin if you're going to be my son in law. I presume you do actually intend to marry my daughter, you're not just stringing her along are you? Oh, and sorry to have intruded the other morning, hope I wasn't interrupting anything?" she asked with a wink.

"Whilst you are in my consulting room, I am your doctor, so you can call me Doctor, or Doctor Ellingham," Martin told her frostily, ignoring her question. "I am assuming that you have come to my surgery to consult me on a medical matter. If that is not the case, the door is over there." Martin pointed with his pen in the direction of the way out.

He was irritated by her smug attitude, but couldn't help staring at her for a minute. She really did look like an older version of Louisa, she was still a very beautiful woman, and he had no doubt that many men would still be attracted to her. Fiona held his glance for a moment – she was very sure of herself, of her power over men, that was very apparent even to Martin, who was pretty clueless in these matters.

"So everything I've heard about you is true, Martin. Arrogant, rude, no time for niceties. Not sure just what it is my daughter sees in you, but then she always did have a thing about doctors, so maybe that explains it." Fiona looked Martin straight in the eye, enjoying trying to provoke him.

Martin threw his pen down on his desk, and sat back in his chair, looking hard at this woman whom Louisa had described as 'trouble'. He was beginning to realise it was a pretty accurate description. She was the kind of woman who liked to shock people, to get a reaction from them. Well, he wasn't going to play along with her little game.

"Unless you have a medical problem that you wish to consult me about, you can leave now," Martin told her coldly.

"No, nothing medical, I just came to check you out really. Anyway, I'm sure that I'll be seeing you again soon, Martin," Fiona told him as she got up to leave.

"Not if I have anything to do with it, you won't," muttered Martin as Fiona walked out, before bellowing,

"Next patient! Preferably one that actually has a genuine medical complaint."

**xXx**

"What's she playing at Louisa? Complete waste of my time, her calling in like that, just to 'check me out'. Bloody cheek of the woman."

Martin had told Louisa all about the visit Fiona had made to his surgery whilst they were having their evening meal, and now they were discussing it as they lay together in bed that night.

"I have no idea Martin. I told you, she's trouble. I'm sorry she wasted your time. Just ignore her, hopefully she'll soon get bored of her little game, whatever it is, and then she'll swan off to try her charms in some other part of the country," Louisa said. At least Martin was beginning to understand why she had not been pleased to see her mother.

"Anyway, let's not waste any more of our time discussing her. I'm sure we can think of a much better way to spend our time, can't we?" Louisa said as she kissed his cheek and ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, which she loved doing.

Martin didn't need asking twice, she noticed from his very obvious response. Louisa found herself once again surprised by the passionate nature of her fiancé when he proved to be very imaginative in showing her just how they should spend their time in bed together.

**xXx**

Despite what Louisa had told Martin about ignoring her mother, and not wanting anything to do with her, she found that she couldn't help herself, she just had to confront her, to find out why she was here – as her mother had known she would. So that was how Louisa found herself knocking on the bedroom door of one of the guest rooms of the pub the following morning. After a couple of minutes, the door was opened by John, the barman, tucking his shirt in his trousers and smiling at her mother, who was still lying in bed, clearly naked under the covers.

"See you later then, Fiona," John said as he left, with a huge grin on his face, but avoiding Louisa's eye as he squeezed passed her.

"You just can't help yourself, can you? You're old enough to be his mother," Louisa told her mother acidly.

"So? If it doesn't bother him, why should it bother you so much?" Fiona told her daughter, stretching out in the bed lazily. "Anyhow, I'm doing him a favour, he'll be a much better lover by the time I've finished with him. Actually, I'm doing his next girlfriend a favour if you think about it."

"I didn't come here to discuss your sex life. Why did you go to see Martin? He doesn't appreciate having his time wasted, he's very busy," Louisa told her haughtily.

"Ah yes, Martin. What on earth do you see in him? He clearly thinks he's God just because he's a doctor. I know doctors earn a fair whack these days, but honestly Louisa, surely you aren't serious about marrying a boring old stuffed shirt like him?" Fiona wasn't mincing her words.

"Mum! Don't talk about Martin like that, he's…he's…decent, and honest…and very loving actually," Louisa struggled to find the right words to defend Martin, knowing how he came across to other people, and imagining only too well how he had spoken to her mother in his surgery.

Fiona looked hard at her daughter, and then a small smile crept over her face as she said,

"Do you mean he's good in bed? I've met his type before, all repressed and stuffy on the outside, but when you finally manage to get them to let go, they turn out to be the most fantastic lovers. And I did notice that he has very large hands, which in my experience usually indicates that a man is err...well endowed, shall we say?"

"For goodness sake mum!" Louisa exclaimed, highly embarrassed.

" And of course doctors do have a very through understanding of the female anatomy, and nerve endings, all that kind of stuff I suppose." From the blush creeping over Louisa's face, Fiona guessed that her assessment was pretty accurate.

"I'm right aren't I?" she laughed, "But is that enough? You'll have to live with him day in, day out, put up with that face that looks like he's sucking lemons, for the rest of your life."

"My relationship with Martin really is none of your business. What do you mean by coming back here after all this time, trying to meddle in my affairs and give me unwanted advice, hmm? All I want from you is to know why you've come here, why now?"

"Well let me get showered and dressed, then you can join me for breakfast while I tell you," Fiona suggested as she threw back the bed covers to reveal her naked body. As she reached over for her dressing gown, she noted with amusement that Louisa had averted her eyes. Why did her daughter have to be such a little prude, she thought to herself.

"I'll wait for you downstairs then. Don't be too long, I do have better things to do with my Saturday morning," Louisa told her as she left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. Why did her mother always have to be such an exhibitionist, she thought to herself.

**xXx**

"Mmm, good sex always gives me such an appetite," Fiona said as she tucked into her full English breakfast. She couldn't help smiling as she noticed that Louisa was also enjoying a hearty breakfast too.

"Why do you that?" Louisa asked, annoyed.

"What?"

"Say things to try to shock people, to provoke them."

"I don't. I just say what I'm thinking, which I think is a healthy attitude, it's just being honest," Fiona replied.

Louisa thought about Martin, who was also brutally honest, but didn't say things just to provoke a reaction as her mother did. She sighed, knowing from past experience that she would not win this argument with her mother.

"So you want to know why I'm here. That's why you've come to see me," Fiona said as she now tucked into her toast and marmalade.

"Yes. If it's money you're after, don't think that I'm the soft touch I used to be. I've learnt the hard way, both with you and Dad, that you have to be cruel to be kind. Any money I've ever given either of you has just been throwing good money after bad," Louisa lectured.

Fiona threw her head back and laughed,

"Talk about role reversal, isn't that the kind of lecture a parent is supposed to give their errant offspring?"

"Yes, exactly," Louisa said pointedly.

"I suppose you do have a point, I've never been what you could call a traditional mother, have I? And yes, I do want to see you about money, as it happens. Just not in the way that you imagine," Fiona explained.

"Oh? In what way then," Louisa enquired, unable to imagine anything other than a situation that required her to bail her mother out, yet again.

"Believe it or not, I've got a bit of spare cash for once, and I thought maybe you could help me to spend it. This could be a chance for us to go on a holiday or go travelling together, help to make up for all these years that I've neglected you – I know I've been a rubbish mother. Now that we are both grown women, I hoped that maybe we could get to know each other more as friends really. Especially when I heard that you'd got engaged, it made me realise that it was high time that we spent some time together before you settled down, and maybe started having babies, all that kind of thing."

"How did you hear about me and Martin? You haven't been in touch for years," Louisa was curious to know.

"I have my sources. I've always known what you were doing, what was going on in your life, even if I've been some distance away. I am still your mother, and whatever you may think of me, I do still care about you. Anyway, the point is, what do you think, would you like to help me spend some of my money?"

Louisa thought she would find out more later about her mother's 'sources', but for now she was intrigued to find out about this windfall.

"You really should save it rather than blow it all on a holiday. You could invest some money in a savings account, maybe an ISA, you'd get a better rate of interest that way. How much are we talking about anyway?" she asked.

"Around £5 million, give or take. I think that's over the limit for an ISA, isn't it?" Fiona coolly informed Louisa, who was now choking on her cup of tea, not quite sure that she had heard her mother correctly.

"Did you say £5 MILLION pounds?" she managed to splutter.

"Yes, that's right, £5 million quid. Pass the marmalade would you?" Fiona replied, enjoying the fact that for once, her usually rather opinionated daughter was speechless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my over active imagination.**

**Forgive and Forget?**

**Chapter 2**

Louisa listened intently as her mother explained what had led to her coming to Portwenn and seeking her out after all this time.

"You're right, I have been living in Scotland for the past few years. With Rob, my Scottish fella, as you described him. Actually we were together for six years, the longest time that I've ever been with one man – well, except for your father, and we only stayed together as long as we did because of you really. You see, in Rob, I finally met my soul mate," Fiona glanced at Louisa who was regarding her with a rather sceptical eye.

"Oh I know, you don't believe that I could be with just one man for that length of time, and you're right, I'm no angel. But neither was Rob. He liked to drink, smoke, gamble, fornicate – he believed that you should live life to the full, live every day as if it was your last. And then one day it _was_ his last. He had a massive heart attack and died. But at least he died with a smile on his face, we were in bed at the time, trying out his latest fantasy, you see he was very into bondage and…" Fiona started to explain to Louisa.

"Yes, well I don't think I need to know all the details," Louisa interrupted. "But I can imagine that it must have been a terrible shock for you."

As she glanced at her mother's face, she saw a tear trickle down her cheek, and realised that despite the apparent air of bravado, she was actually grieving and very upset, and her attitude towards her softened somewhat.

"You can say that again, but at least the way he died gave the paramedics something to talk about I imagine, and of course the police had to be involved as it was a sudden unexplained death. You should have seen the young detectives' face when he saw what Rob was wearing, it was quite funny really. Anyhow, every cloud has a silver lining, as they say," Fiona managed to joke.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Rob dealt in stocks and shares, buying and selling, wheeling and dealing, that kind of thing. I never understood any of it, but apparently he was very good. He loved it, although I have to say that it just seemed to me to be another form of gambling. Anyway, he'd just completed some fantastic deal that he'd been working on for ages, and we were celebrating because he'd managed to pull it off. Turns out the deal was worth around £5 million pounds – and he's left everything to me," Fiona explained.

"Wow, some deal. But is it definite, I mean have you actually _got_ the money yet? Did he leave a proper will? Hasn't he got any relatives?" Louisa asked, as her practical nature kicked in. In her experience, anything that seemed to be too good to be true usually was.

"Oh it's all going through now, it takes time, you know how these things are, and apparently Scottish law is even more complicated than English law. But he's left it all to me, there's no doubt about that. He was married a long time ago, I think he may even have a son, but they lost touch years ago."

"Well I wouldn't go splashing out on anything just yet, not until you actually have the money in your bank account. Nor would I tell anyone else about your windfall, or you'll be attracting interest for all the wrong reasons," Louisa advised sternly.

"Oh Louisa, you always worry too much, it's going to be fine, I just know it is. But you're right, I'll keep quiet for now about my good fortune, I'd hate to think that anyone would want to sleep with me just because of my money," Fiona agreed.

"No, God forbid that anyone should want to sleep with you for any other reason than your undoubted charms, mother," Louisa told her with an ironic smile. Just then her mobile phone rang, and she grimaced as she saw that it was Martin calling.

"Look I have to go now, Martin will be wondering where on earth I am. Just promise me you won't do anything hasty, not until everything is properly settled," she urged as she took the call.

"I won't. I knew you'd help me with all this, Louisa," her mother said with a smile, as she got up to go.

"Yes, I'm just on my way back now. Sorry, I'll explain everything in a minute," she reassured Martin, as she hurriedly made her way out of the pub, noticing that John the bar man had quickly taken her place at the table as she left.

**xXx**

"All sounds very unlikely to me, are you sure that she's got her facts right?" Martin asked, once Louisa had arrived back at his house and filled him in with what she'd just found out.

"Hmm, well that's what I shall have to try to establish," Louisa said worriedly.

"So what happened to '_I'm not getting sucked in, I'm not going to see her, or meet up with her, she can go to hell', _which if you recall, was what you said when she turned up unannounced on your doorstep," Martin reminded her.

He was feeling rather resentful that the weekend that he'd been really looking forward to spending with Louisa was now being disrupted by this unwelcome visitor.

"I know, I know Martin, but she's recently been bereaved, I can't just ignore her now, she was really upset, I've never seen her like this before," Louisa tried to explain.

"So she says. Whole thing could be a pack of lies. £5 million pounds, it's a bit far fetched, isn't it?" Martin's gut instinct told him not to believe a word that Fiona was saying, but even he realised that Louisa probably wouldn't take too kindly to him accusing her mother of being a liar, however much she professed to distrust her.

"Stranger things have happened Martin. Like I said, I'm going to look into it to see what's what, and it would be nice if you could be a bit more supportive rather than just being negative," Louisa said huffily.

"I am being supportive. But I'm also being realistic. And you are the one that told me that your mother is trouble after all," Martin pointed out.

Trouble with a capital 'T', Martin decided to himself, that was what Fiona was turning out to be.

**xXx**

That night, as he cuddled up to her bed, Martin tenderly kissed Louisa's neck and then put his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. As it was the weekend, they didn't have to be up early in the morning, so he was hoping that they could be quite adventurous tonight. Louisa was often the one to make suggestions for them to try, but now he had some ideas of his own that he hoped she would find pleasurable. He'd been thinking about it all day and couldn't wait to get started, so they were in bed pretty early.

"That's nice, oh that's _very_ nice" Louisa murmured, as Martin skilfully used his hands to get her in the mood for what he had planned for them.

He carried on nuzzling her neck as he ran his hands under the gorgeous silk black nightie that she'd put on for him, knowing that he loved the feel of the fabric, but it quickly ended up on the floor - he hadn't even bothered to put any pyjamas.

Louisa turned to him, teasing his lips with hers as she ran her hands over his chest, and then trailed them over his stomach, carrying on downwards to check out just how ready for action he was – very ready, she discovered. He groaned at her touch, and pushed her back on the bed, impatient to progress their love making to the next stage, it always drove him wild when she touched him…

And then Louisa's mobile rang. She always put it on the bedside table, but it never usually rang. No, it was usually _his_ mobile that went off, but as he was not on call tonight, he'd switched his phone right off for once, determined to relax and enjoy an uninterrupted night of passion with Louisa. He was quite proud of himself, he was finally learning to relax and unwind as she, and Auntie Joan, were always urging him to.

"Ignore it! It can't be important," he breathlessly implored her, kissing her neck as he stroked the soft skin on the inside of her thigh with his finger tips. But the phone kept ringing.

"I'm sorry Martin, I can't just leave it, it must be important for someone to be ringing me now," Louisa finally exclaimed as she reached over for the phone, leaving him frustrated and disappointed as he fell back onto the bed.

"Joe? What on earth… what do you mean? What kind of a fight? Well can't you just call an ambulance? OK, OK, I'll ask him," Louisa turned to Martin.

"It's Joe Penhale, there's been a fight over at the pub, something to do with my mother, two men brawling over her or something. He says if he calls an ambulance then he'll have to do an official report and he thought we might prefer to keep it quiet, He doesn't think there are any serious injuries, so if you could just quickly check the men over then he can keep it all low key," Louisa quickly explained.

"You have got to be joking!" Martin grimaced, having no wish to get up, get dressed and make his way over to the pub.

"We'll be there shortly, and thanks for ringing me first Joe, very thoughtful of you," Louisa said, as she finished the phone call.

"No, Martin, this is not a joke, come on, get dressed," Louisa told him as she pushed him out of bed, before jumping out herself and reaching for her clothes.

Realising that their romantic session was now most definitely over for the night, Martin sighed and resignedly reached for his clothes too, and started getting dressed.

**xXx**

Joe Penhale met them just outside the pub entrance, and proceeded to fill them in on what had happened.

"Seems the female, who it transpires is your mother Louisa, had some sort of liaison with John, the barman, last night. So tonight when he's working behind the bar, he didn't take too kindly to seeing the lady in question strike up a friendship with Chippy the fisherman - John's the jealous type it seems. Anyhow, when he sees her taking him upstairs to her room, he confronts them, and it ends up in a fight," Joe explained.

"Good grief, what on earth has she been getting up to?" Martin asked Louisa, horrified.

"I did warn you, if you recall," hissed Louisa, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Anyway, I think the injuries are pretty minor, and I thought you would probably prefer it if we managed to sort this out amongst ourselves. I did try ringing you Doc, but your mobile phone seemed to be switched off, most unusual. But I used my detective skills to work out that you'd be with Louisa, so that's why I rang her instead, I've got her number in case the school alarm system goes off. And anyway, as it's her mum who caused the kafuffle, I thought she would want to know. I've already cleared everyone out of the crime scene, that'll leave room for you to perform your duties Doc," Joe explained.

"Yes, thanks Joe, very good of you," Louisa told him rather shamefacedly, as they walked into the now deserted pub. Her mother was sitting in one corner of the pub, watching with some amusement as the two men glowered at each other on the other side of the room. One appeared to have a cut lip, the other a black eye. Martin disappeared in the direction of the men, while Louisa confronted her mother.

"I hope you're proud of yourself. Why do you always have to act like such a complete and utter trollop?" Louisa asked her mother angrily, standing in front of her with her arms crossed.

"I can't help it if John got jealous after he made some stupid assumption about 'us', it was just one night of sex after all. And a great big hunky man like Chippy is much more my type anyhow, with his sexy deep voice, his sexy black hair and _oh_ that sexy black beard of his, I've always loved a man with a beard….." Fiona sat there dreamily looking over at Chippy.

"_Mother! _For goodness sake! Stop acting like such a teenager! And just how much have you had to drink?" Louisa looked at her suspiciously, noticing the now empty wine glass that her mother was sitting nursing.

"Not nearly enough it seems, cos I'm still coherent enough to know that you're really, really pissed off with me, aren't you daughter dear?" Her mother giggled at her, as she slid sideways a little in her seat.

"I'm taking you back to mine, you can sleep this off on my settee," Louisa told her firmly. "Stay there, I'm just going to have a word with Martin first."

"Bossy boots. You always were such a bossy little madam, do you know that, hmm? No wonder you ended up as the head mistress, bet you're really strict with all the kids aren't you? Course I remember when _you _were a kid, you were always Daddy's little princess, that's what you were, could do no wrong in his eyes, little Miss Perfect, _I _never used to get a look in…" Fiona was getting into her stride until she was stopped by Louisa shouting at her,

"_Shut up_! Just shut up. Just leave it, alright?"

"Ooh, alright, you carry on and just ignore me, I'll be as good as gold now," Fiona said, stunned into submission by Louisa's reaction, as she now sat with her finger on her mouth.

She watched as Louisa marched over to where Martin was looking up from examining Chippy's black eye, having been startled by Louisa's loud outburst at her mother.

"Are these two stupid, testosterone fuelled Neanderthals alright Martin? Fighting over a woman like two Stone Age cavemen, I don't know who is more stupid, them or her," Louisa nodded in the direction of her mother.

"Only minor injuries, nothing to worry about," Martin confirmed, rather taken aback by the extreme level of anger in Louisa's voice.

"Good. Well in that case I'm going to get mum back to my place, she can sleep it off on my settee. I don't think it's a very good idea to leave her at the pub tonight, goodness only knows what else might happen if I leave her here, the state she's in," Louisa informed him.

"No, I suppose that is probably wise," Martin reluctantly agreed.

"So I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK."

"Oh, and err… Martin…"

"Yes?"

"Sorry about all this, and I err… will make it up to you…you know…earlier?" Louisa smiled at him coyly.

"Ah right yes…well…not your fault I suppose, so see you tomorrow," he managed to smile back, before applying some antiseptic to the cut on Chippy's eyebrow in a none too gentle manner.

**xXx**

"Drink this, best hangover cure I've ever found," Louisa instructed her mother, handing her a glass containing a fizzing alka seltzer tablet the following morning. It hadn't been easy getting her mother back to her cottage quietly the previous night, and no doubt the whole village had heard the sorry tale of the previous evening's antics in any case, Louisa knew.

"Ah, right yes. Sorry about last night, John is such a foolish boy," Fiona smiled weakly as she lay on Louisa's settee, wearing a pair of borrowed pyjamas. She winced at the bright daylight pouring through the windows where Louisa had flung back the curtains. She quickly downed the drink, shuddering a little as she finished the last dregs, knowing from experience that it would soon work wonders to make her feel human again.

"Well, what do you expect? Flinging yourself at another man, right under his nose? John's actually a very nice man, and you've hurt his feelings. Not everyone has your kind of morals you know, sleeping around like some alley cat. Anyway, I thought you were grieving for your 'soul mate', Rob," Louisa told her coldly.

"I am, actually. Sex is the best distraction for me, I've always had a high sex drive, I need it to feel alive, to feel like a real woman. And since Rob died, I haven't had sex…well apart from with the detective who carried out the investigation into his death, but that was only because he was curious I think, having seen what Rob was wearing when he died. I think he was just a little bit turned on you see, and as he had real handcuffs rather than those silly fake fluffy ones …"

"Mother! How many times do I have to tell you, I don't want to know the sordid details of your sex life! Either you behave yourself while you're here in the village where Martin and I both live, where we both work, or you leave. Do I make myself clear?" Louisa insisted.

"Ah right, yes of course, mustn't embarrass your precious stuck up Martin, must we? Look why on earth are you marrying him? Just because his bed skills are impressive, that doesn't mean you have to marry him, just take him as your lover for now. There's a whole big wide world out there, lord alone knows why you've ended up back here, in the same little village that you grew up in, teaching at the very school that you went to. Is it some sort of security thing for you? A beautiful woman like you should be spreading her wings like I have, that's why I think it would be such a brilliant idea for us to go travelling together, see the world, get to know each other," Fiona implored.

"Spread my wings like you – don't you mean spread your legs?" Louisa told her crudely. "It's a stupid idea. We'd kill each other in the first couple of days. Sorry, but I'm nothing like you, you really don't know the first thing about me. I've travelled – lots actually. I used to go to a different country every year in the school holidays. I've been to America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, as well as most countries in Europe."

"Yes, I know, but it would be different if we went somewhere _together_…" Fiona tried to say, but Louisa wasn't finished yet.

"And you know that I lived in London for a while, because we met up, if you care to remember, while I was at college there. I got in contact with you because I naively thought that I should try to get to know my mother, make my own judgement about you. Well, _I've_ certainly never forgotten coming back to my digs early one day because of a cancelled lecture, to find you in bed with Steve, my then boyfriend, that was pretty memorable actually," Louisa told her mother heatedly.

"My word, you do have a long memory, don't you?" Fiona murmured.

"Anyhow, the point is, I've chosen to come back to this village because it's a wonderful place to live. So don't presume to lecture me on how I should live my life. It's taken me a long time to find a man like Martin, a man that is trust worthy and dependable, and it's taken us a long time to get to this point in our relationship, so the last thing I need is you causing mayhem and upset," Louisa told her mother in no uncertain terms.

"Hit a nerve last night, didn't I?" her mother said quietly, following this outburst.

"I shouldn't think you remember very much at all from last night, the state you were in."

"I was only a bit merry, not drunk as such, and I do remember your reaction when I dared to mention your father," Fiona said, staring keenly at her daughters face.

"I don't know what you mean," Louisa said evasively.

"How is Terry anyhow? Do you see much of him?"

"In prison right now, so no, I don't see much of him," Louisa coolly informed her.

"Oh, I see, the long arm of the law finally caught up with him then. He always was a bit of a chancer, wasn't he? By the way, you're right you know. I _was_ jealous of how much he adored you, his beautiful little girl, his princess. But that wasn't why I left. It was never your fault you know," she said softly.

"I know that now. But when you're eight years old, you don't understand about having a slutty mother who sleeps around, do you?" Louisa told her harshly.

"Ouch. Guess I deserved that. Hands up, I was a crap mother, although in my defence I was very young when I had you. But that's why I've never had any more children, I'm just far too selfish. But as we're both adults, I thought that maybe we could start again, losing Rob so suddenly has made me realise that you have to value what you've got, and you're my only daughter. Come away with me, it'll be fun, you'll see, just for a while. If Martin is the man you say he is, he'll understand, surely? Have you actually set a date for the wedding yet?" Fiona asked.

"No, not yet, we thought probably next summer," Louisa replied.

"That's not like you, you're always so organised, I'd have expected you to have had it all booked by now. Is something holding you back, some doubt in the back of your mind?" Fiona probed.

"No! Of course not," Louisa insisted.

"And you've sorted out all the tricky things, like money, houses, having babies…?" Fiona continued.

"Well, no, not everything, but there's no rush, plenty of time yet," Louisa assured her breezily.

"Well it seems to me there's no reason why you can't come away with me for a while anyhow, enjoy this money that I've come into. I'm sure we could work something out around the school holidays if that's what's worrying you. Louisa, it would be good for you, good for us both," Fiona tried to convince her.

"You haven't even got the money in the bank yet, let's just wait and see what happens first. Anyway, time's getting on, you really should go and have a shower, I've left a change of clothes out for you, we're about the same size, so they should do to get you back to the pub. Your clothes were soaked in beer, I assume some got tipped over you during last night's fun and games, so I've put them in the wash. Then after breakfast, you can go and make your peace with John at the pub, sort things out, now that you've sobered up, hmm?" Louisa pointed towards the stairs, and her mother sighed as she made her way up.

"Just think about what I said about coming away with me, please?" Fiona called out, as she disappeared upstairs to the bathroom.

As Louisa folded up the bedding that her mother had used, she tried to push her niggling worries to the back of her mind again. Her mother had managed to hit upon an area that had really been worrying her since she had accepted Martin's proposal. Much as she loved him, and believed now that he loved her in return, she knew that they had not really discussed and sorted out quite a few important matters, and in truth it was largely why she hadn't gone ahead to set a date for them to get married yet. Everything between them was really wonderful at the moment, so she was scared to spoil it by discussing things that could maybe tear them apart if they couldn't agree. But her doubts were eating away at her like a festering wound, and she knew that in the very near future that wound would have to be attended to before it burst anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.**

**Forgive and Forget?**

**Chapter 3**

As Martin let himself into Louisa's cottage in the morning following the brawl in the pub , he saw Louisa sitting with her back to him at her little table, wearing her blue stripy cardigan. He noticed the wires from her ipod to her headphones disappearing into her long dark glossy hair. That was why she hadn't heard him ringing her door bell, although he could see her through the window. He'd warned her before about listening to that rubbishy music, how it could damage her hearing if she had it up too loud.

He walked over to her, and brushed her hair back so that he could kiss her neck, as he murmured,

"I missed you last night."

"Martin! I didn't know you cared! Or are you just after me for my money?" Fiona asked him with a wink, as she pulled out the headphones and turned round to him.

Martin froze to the spot as he realised his mistake. From the back, Louisa and her mother were identical, especially as she was wearing Louisa's top.

"Well I'm up for a threesome if you are, we could play doctors and nurses if you like, or maybe you prefer being spanked by the headmistress, is that more your kind of thing? I'm very open minded you know, and I gather you have a pretty impressive piece of equipment that we could try out."

Fiona was really enjoying watching Martin squirm with embarrassment as she now stood up and ran her fingers up his arm and then planted a kiss on his cheek very suggestively.

"Stop it mum! Stop playing your little games," Louisa ordered from the bottom of the stairs where she now stood with a face like thunder. She'd been upstairs drying her hair, so hadn't heard the door bell either. She realised exactly what had happened, and could see by the look on Martin's face that he was completely dumbstruck and out of his depth dealing with a man eater like her mother.

"Oh Louisa, I was just joking, where's your sense of humour?" Fiona laughed at her daughter. "Don't worry, I'm just going now anyhow, thanks for everything, see you later, and you will think about what I said, won't you?"

She picked up her handbag from the side where Louisa had put it the night before, and made her way to the front door, unable to resist turning to blow Martin a cheeky kiss before quickly closing the door behind her.

"Louisa, I thought she was you…I would never…I didn't…" Martin stammered, a deep blush covering his face and reaching right to the tips of his ears. What really shocked him was that part of him _had_ been turned on by what Fiona had suggested, the thought of being in bed with _two_ Louisa's was incredibly erotic….and he suspected that Fiona was only too aware of this, she seemed to understand how the deepest, darkest depths of how a man's mind worked. Blast her, she really was the most troublesome, unsettling woman he had ever come across.

"Don't worry Martin, I know exactly what she's like, it really isn't your fault," Louisa told him wearily, in a sad, resigned tone of voice. She'd seen the same little scene enacted more than once before, and there weren't many men who weren't affected to some degree by such a powerful come on from such an expert.

"How long is she staying anyhow? Can't she take herself off on a round the world cruise or something, with all these millions of pounds that she supposedly has?" Martin asked, much happier now that Fiona had left and it was just the two of them again, as they sat down together at her little table.

"I've told her that she really needs to phone the solicitors as soon as possible to find out exactly what's happening with this Rob's estate. Then we'll have a better idea of where she stands, what she should do with herself, whether she really is a millionaire," Louisa explained.

"And what was it that she wants you to think about?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, really," Louisa told him unconvincingly. She was as poor a liar as Martin was. Martin raised his eyebrows as he looked at her questioningly, knowing that she was keeping something back from him.

"She has some stupid idea of us going on an extended holiday together, getting to know each other better, make up for lost time, now that we are both grown women," Louisa reluctantly told him.

"But she knows that we're engaged, that we're going to get married, so what is she playing at, is she trying to break us up or something?" Martin asked, worried that there was something going on that he should know about.

"No, nothing like that. But as we haven't actually committed to any kind of firm wedding date yet, she thinks there's plenty of time for us to go on a mother and daughter bonding trip before I'm tied down with…. Anyway, don't worry I've already told her it's a ridiculous idea, I won't be going anywhere with her," Louisa assured him.

"Well I have asked you to set a date Louisa, more than once, you know that, it's you that says there's no rush. Is that why she asked if I was stringing you along, does she think _I'm_ reluctant to actually go ahead with things?" Martin asked, rather upset if that was the impression Fiona had, as it was not in the least bit true. If any one was dragging their heels, it was Louisa, he realised uncomfortably.

"No, of course not Martin, don't be silly. So umm…what are we going to do today, what are your plans," Louisa said evasively, trying to change the subject. But Martin wasn't fooled, and carried on questioning her, suddenly realising that maybe there was more to her reluctance than he had first thought.

"So why won't you set a date with me? Have you got cold feet? What did you mean about being 'tied down'? Is that what's worrying you, you're feeling trapped?"

"No, of course not, but actually we do need to talk Martin, there are some things that we really ought to get straight before we go ahead and get married," Louisa replied with a worried look on her face.

Since this had come up, Louisa decided that it was now or never, time to face up to things, open the can of worms that could mean the end of their relationship. Maybe it was being cruel to Martin to drag things out and not know where they stood.

Martin felt a cold stab of fear and doubt pierce his heart. He'd assumed that Louisa felt as happy as he did, that things were pretty much perfect between them, that getting married was just the icing on the cake really. But as Auntie Joan had pointed out, he and Louisa were so different, she liked people, liked to socialise and mix, go to parties, that kind of thing, which he hated.

So perhaps he was being very selfish, maybe a wonderful, beautiful, clever woman like Louisa shouldn't be shut away with a funny old medic like him, maybe she'd end up resenting and hating him if he managed to persuade her to go ahead and marry him. Maybe she'd been swept away by her emotions on the day that he'd proposed to her because he'd just saved her friend's life. But now that she had had time to think, maybe she regretted accepting him, but was worried about upsetting him by calling things off, because of her sweet, kind nature. Maybe _he_ should do it then, maybe _he_ should be the one to break things off, release her, give her back her freedom.

Louisa watched as Martin seemed to be resolving some sort of inner conflict as his face grew hard and stern.

"It's alright Louisa. I understand your reluctance to go ahead and set a date to get married. You don't have to pretend anymore. You don't want to marry me, I wouldn't make you happy, and I realise now that you wouldn't make me happy either, so we'll call things off," he told her, not wanting to, but feeling that he had to, for her sake.

"What do you mean, 'I wouldn't make you happy'? It's my mother isn't it? You're appalled by her behaviour, by the thought of having someone like her as your mother in law, so you've got cold feet, big time. I suppose I can't really blame you, it was bad enough that your future father in law is a jail bird, but at least he's out of the picture, whereas she's here, causing trouble as always, I knew she'd spoil things, just as she always does. It's OK, I understand, and you're right, we'll call things off now, we can't go ahead if you're not sure about us getting married," Louisa said, her bottom lip trembling.

"It's got nothing to do with your mother Louisa! But _you_ are clearly having doubts about marrying me, being tied down with me, having a family with me…" Martin protested.

"What did you just say?" Louisa asked him, incredulously. Had he really said what she thought he just said?

"I said it's got nothing to do with your mother, dreadful woman that she is, it's _you_ that I want to marry and have a family with…"

"_You_ want to have babies?" Louisa stared at Martin in total disbelief at what Martin was telling her.

Martin thought that he'd really blown it now by the look on Louisa's face, she seemed completely stunned at the thought of having a baby with him.

"Look, I realise that it would be a lot to ask after you've worked so hard with your career to get your position as head teacher, but I had hoped that once we were married that maybe I could persuade you to take a career break to have a baby. It would be no problem for me to support us financially while you did, and I've been looking out in case a suitable family sized house came up, but of course I realise now that this is all rather selfish of me. I suppose I can understand if you don't want to have a family, you probably feel that you spend more than enough of your time with children. If that is how you feel, then I suppose that I could accept it, because just being with you would be enough for me, but…" Martin's words trailed off as his emotions took hold.

"Go on, Martin, tell me more," Louisa told him gently, as she saw the expression on his face.

"You see, I never saw myself as a family man until we got together. But when you accepted my proposal, it was as if a door was opened to me that had always been firmly shut. A wife, a family, everything that I'd never allowed myself to dream of up till then. You'd make such a lovely mother, and although I know you probably think that I'd be a terrible father, all I can say is that I'd really try to be a good father, make up for the horrid childhood I had. Realistically at our ages we can't afford to put off trying for a baby for too long. but as you've been in no hurry to set a wedding date, I thought that it obviously wasn't a concern to you. And especially if we wanted more than one child…"

He was stopped in his tracks by Louisa throwing herself onto his lap, putting her arms around his neck to hug him tightly and then shower his face with kisses.

"What did I do? What did I say?" Martin asked, completely bewildered.

"The right thing Martin. You said exactly the right thing for once," Louisa told him happily, as she kissed him hard on his lips, still sitting on his lap as he slipped his hands around her waist, thrilled to have her so obviously happy with him, just not quite sure why.

"You see the only thing that was holding me back from going ahead with setting a date for our wedding was the fact that we hadn't discussed having a family, and I really, really want to have babies. But I thought _you_ didn't, and I was scared that this conflict could break us up, once I was brave enough to bring it up with you. Now I find out that you want to have babies too. We really need to work on communicating with each other, being honest and telling each other what we're thinking, don't we? So I'm telling you now, I love you very much Martin Ellingham, you really are such a surprise to me at times, and you make me so, so happy," Louisa told him, placing yet more kisses on his face and hugging him again.

"You're sure? Really sure about this?" Martin asked, hardly daring to believe what she was telling him, having gone from thinking it was all over to this, in just the space of a few minutes.

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life. Let's go ahead and book our wedding. Just something quiet and simple, maybe in the spring. I think we can allow ourselves just a bit more time to ourselves before we start trying for a baby – oh I can't believe I'm actually saying that!" Louisa hugged him tightly in her excitement.

"No, me neither," Martin agreed, closing his eyes and silently thanking Louisa's mother. She had been the catalyst that had brought things to a head tonight. If they hadn't been provoked into talking and sorting out this critically important issue, who knew what might have happened, they could well have ended up calling off their wedding. For all the problems the wretched woman had created, Martin was actually very thankful that Fiona had turned up just when she did, before it was all too late. However, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be pleased to see the back of her sooner rather than later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.**

**Forgive and Forget?**

**Chapter 4**

Whether or not Louisa's words of warning to her mother had had any affect she didn't know, but Fiona seemed to be behaving herself and things had quietened down, no news of any further scandal reached her ears anyway. Louisa didn't go looking for her mother, let sleeping dogs lie was her philosophy at the moment, and in any case her head was full of her wedding plans with Martin.

Martin, who had so surprised her with his confession about wanting them to have a family together. It was like a dream come true for her, and it had taught her a lesson about making assumptions. From now on, she intended to tackle Martin about things to find out what he actually thought, rather than assume that she already knew. It scared her to think of how close they had come to calling things off and breaking up, when they really did love each other so very much.

So her plan from now on was to communicate with him more and try harder to find compromises between them. It would never be easy with Martin, but he was worth the effort, and anyway, he also had to learn to put up with her funny ways, which she had come to realise were just as challenging at times as Martin's.

As she was walking up the hill to Martin's house one evening at the end of the week, she spied her mother talking to Bert Large on the steps of his restaurant, gently touching his arm as she spoke. Bert was gazing adoringly at her mother, seemingly mesmerized by her. Finally she finished speaking, pecked Bert on his cheek and gave him a hug before leaving the restaurant, leaving Bert watching her with a soppy smile on his face.

Louisa met her mother as she reached the restaurant.

"Don't tell me that _Bert_ is one of your…your paramours, is he?" Louisa asked, horrified, but unable to ignore the body language that she had seen between them.

Fiona laughed at her daughters' expression.

"Oh give me _some_ credit darling, I do have certain standards. Bert is an absolute sweetie, we've been friends for many years and he's always been very good to me, he's never been one to be, shall we say, judgemental. But he's one man I've certainly not been interested in – I mean, can you imagine what kind of a lover he would be with all those rolls of blubber? I should think he would struggle to be able to even find his…"

"Yes, quite…so err…what were you so deep in conversation with him about then?" Louisa hurriedly asked, not wanting to picture Bert in any kind of romantic scenario.

"Well, if you must know, we were talking about you, actually," Fiona confessed.

"Me? Why on earth… oh, wait a minute, of course, I get it now, _he's_ your 'source' in the village, isn't he? That's how you knew about me and Martin getting engaged, wasn't it?" Louisa said, as the penny dropped.

"Yes, actually. I was just thanking him. Like I said, we've been friends for many years. I've kept in touch with him to let him know where I was, and he's kept a friendly, fatherly eye on you for me, dropping me a line from time to time. He'd have let me know if you were really in trouble or anything, but you've always been such a strong, independent girl that you've never really needed me, you've been better off without me around, well up to now, that is," Fiona informed her.

Louisa realised that Bert _had_ always been quite protective and fatherly towards her, but he had certainly never mentioned anything about her mother. And as Bert wasn't really Martin's biggest fan, he had no doubt clouded her mother's judgement of him somewhat. Bert still considered Martin to be stuck up and pompous, but then his work-shy, wheeling dealing ways usually brought out the worst of Martin's very upright moral standards.

"He could have said something, let me know he was in touch with you," Louisa grumbled, rather put out.

"I asked him not to. I thought it was best that way, to just let you get on with your life. Of course, now with my inheritance, I can make a positive input for once."

"Yes, about that mum, have you managed to get hold of the solicitors yet, have you found out anything more?" Louisa asked.

"Oh I haven't got round to that yet, but don't worry I will, all in good time. So, are you coming to the pub this evening? They've got this great live band playing tonight, they're on tour round the country, it's a great chance to see them and I'm sure you'd love them. Bring Martin along too, you never know, he might actually loosen up a bit if you get a few drinks inside him, might make him a bit more human," Fiona suggested.

"He doesn't drink actually. Says it has an appalling affect on the liver."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? Far too normal an activity for him, and I suppose he wouldn't want to mix with us mere mortals in the pub after all," Fiona looked at her daughter with raised eyebrows, challenging her to contradict this. Louisa couldn't, because she knew that truthfully Martin would rather stick needles in his eyes than spend the night in the pub with all the villagers, listening to a very loud live band.

"I think he's on call tonight anyway," Louisa lied, "But I might well pop down later to listen to them, everyone's been talking about them and they are meant to be very good."

"Right well, see you later then," Fiona said as she made her way back down the hill as Louisa now carried on up the hill to Martin's house.

**xXx**

As she walked into Martin's kitchen through the back door, an enticing aroma hit her from the meal that he had cooked. He was a pretty decent cook, living on his own for so many years meant that he was more than capable of producing a decent meal for them. Louisa reminded herself that this was one of Martin's good points that she should keep in mind.

"Hello you. Had a good day?" she asked him, as she reached up to peck his cheek, thinking how welcoming the table that he had set for them looked.

"Oh just the usual, you know, malingerers and time wasters," Martin replied as he now started to serve up.

As they ate their meal, Louisa hesitantly asked Martin,

"Would you mind if I went down to the pub for a couple of hours this evening? There's this really good live band playing, and I'd love it if you wanted to come too, but I can't imagine…" Louisa looked at Martin to see his reaction.

"I'd rather watch paint dry. You know I hate things like that. But I suppose if you want to go, it would give me the chance to get on with that clock I'm meant to be restoring, haven't had much chance lately," Martin offered, actually quite glad that Louisa wasn't insisting that he go with her.

"I could still come back here later…spend the night here…if you wanted me to?" Louisa offered tentatively.

"Yes, yes, I'd like that, that would be good," Martin quickly agreed.

"And then tomorrow we can spend the day together, I thought maybe we could go over and look at Claremount House, you know the place we talked about as a possible venue to get married?" Louisa suggested hopefully. They'd discussed wedding plans over the last couple of evenings, and agreed that as neither of them were really religious, a small wedding in a stately home might be quite nice rather than in a church or a bland registry office.

"Yes, that sounds good. I could do some research while you're out if you like; find somewhere decent where we could have a meal maybe?" Martin suggested.

"I'd love that. So you don't mind me going out this evening then? After all, I think it's healthy to keep our own interests as well as find some shared ones too, don't you think?" Louisa checked with him anxiously.

"I agree completely. As long as you promise to come back later to come to…bed with me, I don't mind you going out at all," Martin told her, kissing her cheek happily as they now cleared their plates away.

"Good, right." Louisa felt happy that they had compromised this evening, now they both felt comfortable with their plans.

"Just don't be too late, and don't drink too much," Martin couldn't help lecturing.

"No, of course not."

"And you can just let yourself in now you have your own key," he reminded her.

"Yes, Ok, I promise to be quiet and not to wake you if you're asleep."

"Oh actually I don't mind, and I err…would be quite happy if you happened to forget to put any nightwear on…"

Martin found he rather liked the idea of Louisa slipping into his bed, and then waking him by cuddling up to him, naked. However, he didn't think there was much danger of him falling asleep waiting for her somehow, the anticipation was already getting him hot under the collar just thinking about it.

Louisa came up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips, but as he tried to kiss her back, she pulled away laughing,

"Oh no Martin, you just save that thought for later," she told him as she gathered up her things and went out, leaving Martin smiling after her, longing for 'later'.

**xXx**

Louisa knew that several of her colleagues from school had planned to go to the pub tonight, and she spotted them as she walked, so she happily joined them. She saw that her mother was already there, right at the front, as near to the band as she could get. She waved at Louisa but then turned her attention back to the band. She decided to turn a blind eye to her mother as much as possible tonight, unless she really behaved outrageously.

Sally Tishell was there, and looked on disapprovingly both at Louisa and then at Fiona. She'd tried to sympathise with the Doc earlier that day when he'd called in to collect his supplies, but as usual he had brushed off her remarks about it being 'beneath his dignity to have to put up with such unsuitable relations'.

He always put such a brave face on things, poor man, fancy being saddled with such a woman as his mother in law by marrying Louisa Glasson. Still, she supposed that he was a mere mortal after all, just a man with a man's normal desires, he couldn't help himself. No doubt Louisa had used some of the tricks that her mother had taught her to lure him into her bed and was now employing more of the same to keep him under her spell. He clearly didn't realise that just because _she_ was a sensible, mature woman, it didn't meant that she wouldn't be able to keep him occupied in bed, oh no, if he would only give her the chance, of which there could be plenty with Clive away so much, she'd soon show him a few tricks of her own…

**xXx**

Martin had just sat down with his clock to start tinkering with it, when he heard '_Only me'_ as Joan made her way towards his kitchen door.

"Oh God, now I'm not going to get anything done," he muttered to himself grumpily. He'd already spent far longer than he'd planned researching the internet for his and Louisa's day out tomorrow, but that had been quite pleasurable, and he was looking forward to it. Now he'd planned to spend an hour or so on his clock, before heading to bed to await Louisa's return. However, he wasn't really surprised by Joan's visit, he'd been avoiding her of late because she always had so many awkward, probing questions and he expected that this visit was going to be full of such questions.

"Good evening Marty. No Louisa?" Joan enquired. She was determined to have a chat with her nephew this evening whether he wanted to or not. She was well aware that he had been avoiding her, which made it all the more important that she spoke to him.

"No, she's out, gone to listen to some ghastly band at the pub," Martin explained, suspecting correctly that his aunt knew this full well.

"Ah right yes, well come on then, offer me one of your lovely cups of coffee," she said, nodding her head at his machine as she plonked herself down at his table.

With a resigned sigh, Martin picked up the tray with his clock on and put it away, before making coffee for them both and sitting back down at the table with Joan.

"What do you want, Auntie Joan? To what do I owe this pleasure, what have you come to lecture me about this time?" Martin glowered at her.

"Why ever should you think I need to lecture you, my boy? Guilty conscience perhaps?" she teased him.

"Of course not. So, is your implant still functioning adequately, not causing you any further problems?" Martin still blamed the surge in her hormonal level to some extent for her outrageous behaviour with the decorator chap. Louisa wasn't the only one who had relatives causing them embarrassment with their romantic liaisons.

"It's fine Marty. So I hear that Fiona is back in town. I take it you have become acquainted with her? Quite a character, isn't she?"

"You could say that, yes. It would seem that you have quite a lot in common with her, with your taste for younger men, don't you?" Martin said pointedly.

"Now, now Marty, who are you to cast judgement on others? It's alright for _you_ to have an affair with a woman who is some years your junior, but _not_ alright for a woman to have an affair with a younger man hmm?"

"Oh come on, it's hardly the same thing at all, as you well know. Louisa and I are engaged to be married, we're not just having an 'affair' as you put it, and I'm not _that_ much older than Louisa, I'm certainly not old enough to be her father," he retorted.

"You might be engaged, but you don't seem to be in any hurry to get married. You haven't even started making any plans, never mind setting a date. If you keep dragging your heels, you could end up losing Louisa, she's not going to hang around for ever you know, especially as it took you so long to get around to proposing to her in the first place."

Joan had now got onto the subject that she had really come to see Martin about, which had been worrying her for a while now.

"Well, actually we have…" Martin tried to update his aunt with the latest developments, but she was in full swing now and ignored him to carry on.

"So if you are having any kind of problems, you really need to sort them out without delay. Have you even agreed where you are going to live? And no doubt she'll be wanting children, her biological clock must be ticking quite loudly now, and I don't suppose it's even occurred to you to discuss this with her, so I decided that I should find out what you really think, get the ball rolling with you, because you're so bloody hopeless at this kind of thing."

Joan now paused for breath and looked over at Martin, who was sitting back with his arms crossed, listening to her with a very smug look plastered across his face.

"Oh ye of little faith. Actually, we _have_ set a provisional date in April, we're going to look at the venue we have in mind for the wedding tomorrow. And we have discussed and agreed our plans about having a family. Oh and I'm looking out for a bigger house, because yes, I _do _realise that neither of our houses is really big enough to raise a family. Anything else?"

Martin was enjoying the incredulous look on Joan's face. He had taken the wind right out of her sails, and she was, for once, speechless. Finally she managed to say,

"No, no, seems you've got everything covered. Guess you and Louisa do talk then, I've just been so worried that you were being your usual non communicative self, but obviously I was wrong. Oh come here, you great big lummox, give me a hug, I'm delighted for you, really I am. So come on, tell me more…" Joan had gone over to Marty and hugged him.

"No, you'll just have to wait to find out. We wanted to get it all sorted before we told you, and then you will be sworn to secrecy, I do _not _want the whole village creating chaos on my wedding day, thank you very much," Martin told her as he hugged her back, knowing that it was only because she cared about him that she gave him such a hard time.

"And babies! You're going to have babies!" Joan was by now beside herself with excitement with this information – it was more than she'd dared to hope for.

"Auntie Joan! Not a word about this to _anyone_. And it's not up for any further discussion, I've only told you this much to shut you up, and to stop you going on at me," Martin told her very firmly.

"OK, OK, I get the message. And look, I've been meaning to say that I'm sorry for what I said Marty – about you and Louisa being chalk and cheese, about her not making you happy. On the contrary, I think she will be the making of you, if she has managed to get you talking and communicating so well with her," Joan confessed.

"Don't know why you were so worried, or what all the fuss is about," Martin said gruffly, knowing that he would never confess how close he and Louisa had come to breaking up because they _hadn't_ been talking, and that it was really Louisa's mother who had unwittingly been the cause of the improved communications between them.

"Any how, it's getting quite late now," Martin hinted, wanting his aunt to leave well before Louisa was due back. He didn't want any interruptions to his plans for the night.

"There's no rush, Louisa's at the pub…" Then Joan realised from the sheepish look on Martin's face that he had an ulterior motive in wanting her to leave. "Ah right, yes I see, you're expecting her back…to stay the night…right well, I'll make a move now," Joan said as she made her way to the door.

"And Marty, well done! I'm just so glad that everything is alright between you two," she said as she left, humming to herself happily.

**xXx**

Martin hadn't been in bed all that long when he heard Louisa's key in the door. He'd thought that maybe he would have to wait quite a long time for her return if she was really enjoying the band. He'd also worried that if her mother made a spectacle of herself again Louisa might not even turn up, if she had to sort her out again. So he was very pleasantly surprised by her early return. He lay still in bed in the dark, listening as he heard her come upstairs and go into the bathroom. His pulse rate now increased rapidly as he heard her come into his bedroom, and slip into his bed, just as he had imagined.

As he lay on his side with his back to her, he felt her hand slide round his waist as she cuddled up to his back. He could feel that she was naked, just as he had suggested, and he felt her wonderful silky skin brush against his. She started kissing his neck, and ran her hands across his chest. He could feel her soft breasts pressing against his back, and then her leg began to entwine itself with his. He used all of his self control to remain still, pretending to be asleep, so that she would continue with her efforts to wake him.

Finally he could hold out no longer, so he rolled over onto his back and pulled her on top of him.

"You're back nice and early, band no good then?" he asked her, gently kissing and nuzzling her neck and ears as his hands caressed her gorgeous peachy bottom – she had the sexiest derriere in the world as far as he was concerned.

"Oh they were very good actually. But I decided that there was somewhere else I'd _much_ rather be," she told him, kissing him back as she lay on top of him, breathlessly anticipating what was going to happen next. She was not disappointed by Martin's response as they enjoyed their early night together.

**xXx**

The following Monday evening, Louisa was surprised by her mother knocking at her door. She and Martin were just about to have their evening meal together.

"Louisa, glad I caught you," Fiona said breezily.

"Well I'm not exactly hard to track down, unlike you," Louisa hadn't heard anything from her mother since the evening the band had played at the pub. Fiona had been captivated by them, meaning that she had completely ignored both John the barman, and Chippy the fisherman because she had been so engrossed in watching the drummer in the band. John and Chippy had ended up drowning their sorrows together and agreeing that they didn't understand women at all, and were better off with just their mates, it was far less complicated that way.

"I've come to tell you that I'm leaving actually. You don't need me around, I can see that you and Martin are very happy together. He may not be my cup of tea, but then you and I have always been so different, so I suppose that it's only to be expected that our taste in men would be so different too," Fiona announced.

"But what happened to wanting us to spend some time together, for us to undergo some sort of miraculous mother/daughter bonding experience while travelling?" Louisa asked, taken aback by this sudden change of plans. Martin looked on, but said nothing.

"Well, you made it clear you weren't interested in any of that, and I suppose you're right really. And as the band has asked me if I'd like to join them on their tour round the country, which sounds _amazing_, I thought, why not?"

"But what about this inheritance situation of yours? Have you found out exactly what's happening about the money? And surely you should know a bit more about this band before you go off with them, you've only known them five minutes after all?"

"Ah right yes, the money. Well I've had news on that front actually. I've finally spoken to the solicitor and it seems that there has been an 'issue' regarding the funds, something to do with Rob's deal falling foul of 'insider trading' rules, whatever they may be, so the funds have been confiscated pending police investigations into corruption allegations."

"You're kidding! Oh mum, that's terrible. Just for once I hoped that maybe you'd be secure, have something to fall back on…"

"Oh you know me, easy come, easy go, c'est la vie," Fiona shrugged her shoulders, smiling but with a sadness lingering in her eyes.

"But you can't just take off with this band, you hardly know them."

"But that's the fun of it, don't you see? A new start, with new adventures."

"Well, I suppose it's up to you, but I really don't think…" Louisa knew from past experience that once her mother had made up her mind to go, that's just what she would do, regardless of anything Louisa said to her. It had happened so many times before.

"There is just one thing though. I'm afraid that I've run up a bit of a bill at the pub, I'd assumed that I'd easily be able to pay it once my money came through. Of course now it doesn't look like I will be getting it after all, I can't pay it, and John's gone all funny about it, seems to have the hump with me after our little 'misunderstanding'. So I was hoping that maybe you could see your way to…"

"No! I told you right at the beginning that I wasn't the soft touch that I used to be, you can jolly well stay here and get a job to pay off your debt instead of swanning off with this band to goodness knows where," Louisa told her mother firmly as she looked at her disapprovingly, with her arms folded tightly.

"I'll pay your bill. But only on condition that you are gone by tomorrow," Martin spoke quietly but determinedly. Both women turned to look at him, having quite forgotten that he was even there.

"Oh thanks, Martin, that would be great, I'll tell John that you'll settle up with him direct. The band leaves first thing in the morning, so I'll be on my way then," Fiona looked at him, knowing full well that he wasn't doing it as a favour to her, that he just wanted to be rid of her. They both knew that there was no love lost between them.

"Martin, you really shouldn't…" Louisa protested. But when she looked at Martin's expression, she was shocked at how hard and cold he looked, and so the words died on her lips.

"Just look after my girl Martin. I'll hear if there are any problems you know," Fiona tried to say cheerfully, but there were actually tears in her eyes, Louisa realised. These had no affect on Martin though.

"Just go. Nothing more to be said," he told her.

With that, Fiona gave Louisa a quick hug and kiss and was gone, slamming the door behind her.

"I certainly hope that's the last we see of her," Martin told Louisa as he put his arm round her, not sure quite how she was taking this development. He'd felt it worth every penny of whatever bill she had run up at the pub to see the back of her.

"Oh I expect it'll be about another six or seven years before we hear from her again, it's usually about that long between visits from my mother," Louisa said. She was not as upset as Martin feared, because this was a very familiar pattern, this was usually how things ended up. But this time it was different - she had Martin, she was not alone.

Louisa took a deep breath, put her shoulders back and told Martin,

"Come on, our supper's spoiling now, lets go eat. I want to talk about that quote they've sent us for the wedding…"

**xXx**

**Epilogue**

Martin couldn't help smiling to himself as he came downstairs. He could hear two little voices coming from inside his study.

"No, Andrew, you know what Daddy said, you mustn't touch _anything _of his," Olivia's earnest little voice was pleading with her younger brother.

"Yes, but I'm only looking, that doesn't count, I'm not touching, am I?" Andrew was looking at some pictures in a medical book on human anatomy. Martin remembered sneaking in to look at _his_ fathers' books, and then being smacked when his father discovered him.

"Well you had to touch the book to open it, didn't you?" Olivia argued back, her blonde curls bobbing as she admonished him. At six years old, she felt that she should be in charge of her brother, who was after all only five years old. He was always finding excuses to look at Daddy's things, he found them all fascinating. Olivia sounded just like Louisa, Martin couldn't help thinking.

They both looked up now as their father walked in.

"Daddy!" they both chorused and ran over to him, clamouring to be picked up.

"I told Andrew not to touch your things Daddy, but he…"

"I was only looking at the pictures of the skelington…"

Martin managed to scoop them both up, one in each arm and then carried them towards the kitchen.

"Alright Olivia, don't worry, Andrew hasn't done any harm, he's just curious," Martin told her as he put them both down at the table. He thought to himself that he would have to find his son a book more appropriate for his age - the boy was fascinated by human anatomy at the moment. He certainly wasn't going to be punished the way that he had been by his father for showing a healthy interest in learning.

"See, I told you it would be alright," Andrew gloated at his sister, then bent his head over the book that he had carried out clutched to his chest. His hair was as dark as his sister's was fair.

"Yes, but Olivia is right, I did tell you not to go in my study, didn't I?" Martin didn't keep any drugs or anything dangerous in his study at home, but he did try to keep it as his private bolt hole.

Olivia looked over at her brother with a smug smile on her face now, but he was too engrossed in the book to notice her.

"So, who wants pancakes for breakfast?" Martin asked, and was hit by a chorus of 'me, me' – this was the usual routine in the morning at weekends.

"You make the best pancakes in the world, Daddy," Olivia told him as she watched him mixing up the batter, resting her chin on her hands as she sat at the table.

Louisa smiled happily as she came into the kitchen, watching them.

It had seemed at one point that their dream of having a family was not going to happen after all. After months of trying, then an early miscarriage, then further months of trying, she had hardly dared hope that when she did finally manage to get pregnant that they would finally realise their dream of having a baby. So it had come as somewhat of a shock to fall pregnant again almost straight away, meaning that there was only just over a year between Olivia and Andrew. But now she wouldn't change a thing.

She was disturbed from her reverie by the doorbell, which she went to answer. She opened the door thinking that it was Dave the postie, but was shocked by who was standing there.

"Hello Louisa. I thought that it was about time my grandchildren got to know their grandma, although I can't say that I like the idea of being called that…"

Louisa recovered from her shock and pulled herself together to reply with a wry smile.

"Hello mum. I was only thinking the other day that we must be about due for another of your visits. It has been about seven years or so after all."

Louisa let her mother in with a resigned sigh, as Martin looked up and realised who it was.

"Oh God," he groaned. "Stormy waters ahead…"

**THE END**


End file.
